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Copyright & Fair Use

Copyright: An Introduction

What is Copyright?

Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United States to the authors of "original works of authorship (not copied) which are fixed in any tangible medium expression." Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution represents our founding fathers effort, "To promote the progress of science and useful arts, by securing for limited times to authors and inventors the exclusive right to their respective writings and discoveries."

This means that we all own thousands of copyrights! It also means that much of what we encounter in our daily lives is protected by copyright. There are always exceptions to every rule, so use the resources from the 'Resources' tab to further investigate if you are working with protected works or not.
*This guide does not supply legal advice nor is it intended to take the place of legal counsel.

What is Copyrightable?

  • Literary works: fiction, non-fiction, poetry, textbooks, reference works, dictionaries, catalogs, advertising copy, compilations of information, computer programs and databases

  • Musical works: this generally refers to musical scores and accompanying words

  • Dramatic works: plays, films, radio, television scripts

  • Pantomimes and choreography

  • Pictorial, graphic and sculptural works

  • Motion pictures and other audiovisual work (film, television show, videogame, etc.)

  • Sound recording: performance of musical works, audio recordings of literary works

  • Architectural works: just the designs, not the building itself.

What isn't?

  • Ideas: no one can copyright an idea, but your expression of the idea may be protected by law.

  • Data is not protected but your expression of data is.

  • Facts: no one may claim originality as to facts.

  • Works in the public domain, which include:

    • Works whose copyright has expired before 1923.

    • Works created by the U.S. Government or a U.S. Government entity.

  • Directions, recipes or concoctions: however this may be covered under trade secret law or a patent.

  • Works that are not fixed (fixed describes anything created, documented or recorded in some way):

    • Choreography developed during a dance class that wasn't recorded.

    • Music played during a jam session that wasn't recorded.

  • Names, phrases, slogans, titles and symbols: but again, these could be protected under trademark.

  • Variations of typographic ornamentation, lettering or coloring.

  • Simple listings: table of contents, recipe ingredients: however you can be protected by copyright by the way facts have been ordered.

  • Procedures, methods and processes.

  • Works consisting of common facts such as a ruler, a calendar or a height/weight chart.

                  

(these images were accessed through Google's 'available for reuse' search tool)

Exceptions to the rule

  • You may have copyright for your writings about facts, such as:

    • Textbooks

    • Nonfiction sources

    • Scholarly articles

  • But you may be able to secure copyright for your arrangement of facts/data

    • A section of facts and data used in an annotated bibliography

    • Arrangement or layout of a pie chart or graph

  • Copyright in a new expression/components of public domain works. For example: 

    • The book The Three Musketeers is no longer protected under copyright (published prior to 1923), but if Barnes & Noble decides to print a copy with a new introduction, that introduction is copyright protected. The same goes for the recreation of The Three Musketeers into a movie, the movie is then copyrightable.

  • Works created by employees of U.S. Government could have copyrightable components.

  • Copyright in Graphic Design

    • Bringing shapes, lettering and coloring together in a way that is protected under law.

  • Copyright in instructions

  • Copyright in listings/arrangements of facts.

(this image was accessed through Google's 'available for reuse' search tool)